6 Tricks to Save Time (And Your Sanity!) This Spring

Spring is a great time to not only freshen up your home but to evaluate how you can better spend your time on the everyday tasks that consume you. Mighty Mommy has 6 savvy timesavers that will free you up to enjoy more time with your family.

March can seem like an incredibly long month, especially if the winter months have kept you and your family cooped up inside. Here in New England, we’ve had an unseasonably mild winter (I should never admit that aloud because we’re not out of the winter woods yet!) so while I can’t complain about stretches of freezing, icy days, my family and I are still looking forward to spending much more time outdoors.

Soon we’ll be enjoying daylight for several hours more each day, we’ll be sitting on bleachers at baseball and softball games, and packing up the car to head to the beach each weekend. But before those fresh days of spring and lazy days of summer arrive I always enjoy (call me crazy) doing a thorough spring cleaning so that everything is in order for our much more laid back schedule.

In addition to a good, old-fashioned dusting and purging I also like to freshen up our daily routines including finding smarter ways to save time and energy on many of our everyday tasks. Mighty Mommy shares 6 springtime sanity savers that will save you some energy and allow you more time with your family.

#1: Rise and Shine

Throughout my entire life, I’ve always been more of a night owl rather than a morning person. I enjoy the peace and quiet of late night hours because I have time to think, write, pay bills, plan meals, and get lost in a great book without any interruptions from my kids and even our dogs! The downside to this is it’s not as easy to roll out of bed early in the morning. This is especially true during the winter months because it’s so cozy and warm in my soft, flannel sheets on those frosty, dark winter mornings. Once daylight savings occurs, however, the days are longer and it’s much easier to get the day going. By simply getting up 20 or so minutes before the rest of your family, you can not only grab a little peace and quiet, you can get your day off to a super organized start which will save you time from the usual morning scurry if you tend to hit the snooze button one too many times. Rise and Shine a bit earlier and your entire family will benefit each day. See Also: 6 Key Ingredients for a Successful Morning Routine

#2: Evaluate Your Daily Schedule

Now that you’re getting up a few minutes earlier each day, use this time for some reflection on how life is going. Are you always behind the eight ball each day running crazy looking for backpacks, kid’s shoes, missing homework assignments? Do you always have to punt at dinner?

#3: Color-Coded Towels

Raising 8 kids means extra time in the kitchen, the car and especially the laundry room. Once my kids hit their tween and teen years it seemed we never had enough towels. Long, hot showers became a staple in their lives and sometimes, twice a day! I couldn’t keep enough clean towels in the linen closet, and to be honest, I didn’t think it was necessary they use two or more towels each day. To solve this we purchased and assigned colored towels to each child. Each of them got 5 towels of their designated color and they have to make them last for the entire week.

Now they learn to hang them to dry for more than one use or take care of washing them themselves. They’re also very protective of their individual towel stash and because they’re color coded, everyone knows if someone is trying to borrow their towel. I’ve added hours to my week with this tip alone!